Faced with his son's doubts, Lu Baichuan patiently explained, "If we want to investigate these things now, we have to start from other places. We've already hidden everything that can be hidden in the mountains, and the other party won't let us know."
Prince Jing has been in trouble for so long, and the court officials are on their way. Even if the other side had the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard, they wouldn't dare to openly display it like this. They must have used Prince Jing's incident to hide everything that needed to be hidden.
"So how do we investigate?"
Lu Baichuan replied, "Where there are many people, there is information. I'll take you into the city for fun tomorrow at noon."
The dog immediately perked up: "Okay!"
When they got back, Jiang Jiuniang was still reading a novel. As soon as she saw them, she asked, "How did things go?"
Lu Baichuan glanced at his son, gesturing for him to speak.
Gou'er stepped forward and said, "Mother, Uncle Jing's condition is very bad. If we don't go soon, his life may be in danger! In addition, we also heard a group of people say that Uncle Jing was harmed by them. They said that Uncle Jing discovered their secret, so they wanted to wear him down to death."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jiuniang glanced at Lu Baichuan. Good heavens, he really guessed right.
This man is really perceptive about some things.
"It's good that the person is still alive. It's getting late, let's get some sleep first and check the details tomorrow. Anyway, the people sent by the imperial court haven't arrived yet, so we still have plenty of time."
Jiang Jiuniang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he had a breath left, she could save him. Besides, they were all here now, so they wouldn't just stand by and watch Prince Jing get into trouble.
"Yes, that's what Father said too. I'll go with Father tomorrow!"
"Okay, Mother will do your makeup then, and I guarantee no one will recognize you."
Jiang Jiuniang patted his head, her eyes full of admiration.
For such a young child to be so outstanding, it's fair to say that Dog is her most prized creation to date.
"Is this the kind of makeup Mother did for us when we entered Jingzhou City?"
The dog's eyes lit up, brimming with anticipation.
Jiang Jiuniang tried hard to recall what kind of makeup she had given everyone when she entered Jingzhou City back then.
Seeing that she couldn't remember, the dog anxiously reminded her, "It's the kind... the kind with lots of wounds on its body..."
"Oh, that one!"
Jiang Jiuniang remembered it; it was a special effects injury makeup she wore to avoid male conscription. Using it now would probably be a bit exaggerated, but a similar one wouldn't be out of the question.
"Sure, Mommy will make it for you tomorrow!"
The dog was instantly delighted and followed Lu Baichuan to the nearby stream to wash up. Then the family of three went into the tent to rest.
The next day, after Jiang Jiuniang's efforts, the father and son looked completely different and limped into the city.
If it weren't for a pass that was so convincingly fake, the two of them would have been mistaken for beggars and chased out by the soldiers guarding the city.
After entering the city, the two looked at each other and quietly gave each other a thumbs up.
Afterwards, the two found the busiest restaurant in the city for dinner. The waiter was quite nice and led them to a corner table, asking, "What would you two like to eat?"
"Just a few light side dishes will do."
After only two days, I'm already tired of eating wild game.
Gou'er thought to himself that he and his father didn't care, but his mother was carrying a little sister, so he had to take good care of his mother. He could then come to the restaurant every day to pack a balanced meal for his mother.
"Please wait a moment, objective."
The waiter recommended a few refreshing dishes and was about to leave when Lu Baichuan stopped him, stuffed a few copper coins into his hand, and asked politely, "Brother waiter, are there any job openings in town? We came to town to find work, otherwise our families will starve!"
The waiter's attitude was already quite good, and now that he had received the money, his smile became even more genuine. He said in a local accent, "Oh, you're from out of town, right? If you're looking for work, you're out of luck. We used to have work here, but there was an earthquake a while ago, houses and mountains collapsed, and a lot of people died. We've temporarily stopped work, so you've probably come all this way for nothing!"
Dog originally thought that he wouldn't get any information from his father asking a waiter, but he didn't expect to get any news.
Lu Baichuan put on a superb performance, then asked, "Huh? We came here specifically because there was work to be done, but now you're saying it's all gone? How are we going to survive? My wife is pregnant, what are we going to do!"
Seeing Lu Baichuan's heartbroken expression, Xiao Er felt very sorry for him, but given the current situation, he said with great regret, "You can only look for other places. Besides, although there is work to do in the mountains here, it doesn't seem to be a good job. Once you go, you can't go home. It's even more unsuitable for someone like you with a family to support. You should find something else to do."
After saying that, the waiter went to tell the kitchen to prepare the dishes, leaving the poor father and son staring at each other.
After dinner, the father and son strolled around the city. Gou'er asked again, "Daddy, where should we go to ask for directions now?"
"Don't rush, let's take a look around first."
Lu Baichuan was clearly much more experienced. Although he hadn't gotten any substantial information from the restaurant, he had at least confirmed that there were people working in the mountains, and that the area was very secluded.
There are only a few things you can do in the mountains.
They're either digging some secret passage to hide something, mining, or raising an army like they did when they searched for the king.
Currently, if we can rule out the possibility of raising troops, then only secret passages and mining remain.
You can choose one of the two, or you can have both.
With that in mind, he headed towards the area where the poor in the city lived.
The houses in the city did not collapse very badly, but the people's lives were still difficult.
After walking around the slums, I found that most of the people there were women, children, the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled, all with miserable faces. No one spoke to them as they passed by.
"Auntie, do you know where I can find work that pays?"
Lu Baichuan arrived at the door of a house where an old woman was washing clothes, so he went up to ask her what was wrong.
"Where can I find work? My son went there and never came back, sob sob sob..."
The old woman burst into tears before she could finish speaking. Lu Baichuan panicked and hurriedly asked what had happened.
The old woman seemed to have just found an outlet for her emotions. As she cried, she said, "Two years ago, the government started recruiting people to work in the mountains. They could earn two copper coins a day. All the men in our neighborhood went, but once they got there, they weren't allowed to go home. They could barely make ends meet because someone would bring their wages back every month. We don't know what they did in those mountains. Every ten days or so, we'd hear news that someone had died. My son was lucky; he's been working there for two years without any problems."
"But who knew that this earthquake would bury everyone? Not a single one of them will come back, sob sob sob... We're the only useless ones left in this area. Our families are old and young, there's no way for us to survive. The government isn't offering any subsidies. I don't know what my family is going to do, sob sob sob..."
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